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Forum Discussion
Devices connected to satellites have bad latency. Router traffic is fine.
Hey everyone, I have had an Orbi RBK853 for just over a year now. Been solid thus far, except for the past week. Recently, any devices connected via a satellite - both via ethernet and wirelessly...
Great description. A latency change from under 20ms to 200 ms is not trivial. It is not clear (to me) that the WiFiman app describes which specific WiFi access point a device is using. (The app is really interesting. It is probably clear from the Orbi web or app interface how the test device is connected.)
The focus on the WiFi backhaul link seems reasonable. I keep a 100 ft. Ethernet cable on hand (under $20 on Amazon) to perform random experiments. It would be interesting to see what happens if one of the satellite is connected to the router with a 'wired' connection. i.e. temporarily plug one end of the Ethernet cable into a router LAN port, run it through the house, up the stairs, etc. and connect to a satellite LAN port. After the satellite connection changes from WiFi 5G to 'Wired', what happens to the latency?
Page 145 of the user manual
(https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RBK852/RBK852_UM_EN.pdf)
indicates that the default channel used for WiFi backhaul is:
Unlike the user facing 5G WiFi channel, there is no option to change the backhaul channel.
While the signal strength appears to be strong enough for the system to recognize a "Good" connection, Orbi routers do not provide information about the performance of the backhaul connection. (My ancient RBR50 had - at one time before Netgear took it away - a command line method to display the current WiFi Link Rate between router and each satellite. The AX product never provided command line access to the Orbi router.)
One hypothesis could be that recently some neighbor installed a WiFi system that is using the same 5G WiFi frequency as your Orbi WiFi backhaul. (The WiFiman app might be useful here.)
A latency change from under 20ms to 200 ms is not trivial.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.
The latency combined with the packet loss is certainly more than trivial. It is limiting my wife ability to do work from home effectively.
I am beyond frustrated at Netgear that my $800usd mesh system CANNOT change the backhaul channel. This is a la John Deere and right to repair as far as I'm concerned.
Regardless, I am not certain it is from a neighbors wifi. First of all, my latency issues began suddenly. It was not iterative as one would expect. I would almost expect something malicious to be installed at a neighbors in order to achieve this congestion. Furthermore, when rebooting a satellite, like unplugging/plugging, upon reset, device latency is great for about 5 minutes. After the satellite 'warms up', the latency issues return. If it were congestioon based, I would expect persistent latency at all times.
What I haven't done is run a 100ft ethernet cord. Making a wired backhaul might fix the solution.
Lastly, I have not performed a factory reset. I will probably do that after replying to this message and check back in. Thanks again for the suggestions! Off to continue troubleshooting!
ps. I am aware this response may seem defensive, apologies. I am just beyond frustrated with the quality and configurability of this very expensive networking equipment.